Tuesday's election will decide which party controls Congress, but there is no way to know how quickly that answer will arrive, with slow ballot counts and ranked choice voting in key states able to stretch results out for days.
Every seat in the House is on the ballot, across all 435 districts, along with 35 Senate contests.
What each party needs
A House majority takes 218 seats. Republicans now hold the narrowest possible cushion: 219 members caucus with the party, just one above that line when every seat is filled, and two seats are currently vacant.
In the Senate, Democrats need 51 seats to take control, while Republicans need only 50 because Vice President JD Vance can break ties in their favor. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 advantage.
Lessons from recent cycles
The last midterms offer a sense of the wait. In 2022, Senate control was not called until four days after Election Day, and the House took eight days.
The 2024 presidential cycle produced a wider split between the chambers. Senate control was settled the day after Election Day, while the House call came eight days later.
Why some counts drag on
Some states routinely need days to finish counting. California, the most populous state, has seen thousands of mail ballots dropped off on Election Day itself, and in 2022 half of its votes were tallied after Election Day.
Alaska and Maine, both home to key Senate races this year, use ranked choice voting. If no candidate tops 50% in the first round, the last-place finisher is eliminated and those ballots shift to voters' second choices, a process that can significantly slow results.
